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Dozens of people are complaining that they've been hit with
fraudulent charges related to Sega's "Kingdom Conquest" game for
the iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch.

The unauthorized charges affect iTunes users who have prepaid
cards attached to their accounts as well as those who link credit
cards or PayPal numbers, but even some people who've never
downloaded the game claim to be victims.

"I did not download this app however I have a $43.99 purchase on
my iTunes account. I am furious and cannot reach a real live
person at apple to address this problem (shocking). Is this the
best apple can do to
secure our accounts. THIS IS RIDICULOUS!" reads one of the
angry customer reviews on the iTunes app page.

"Kingdom Conquest" is a multiplayer role-playing game similar to
"World of Warcraft." The app is free, but players use the iTunes
Store to purchase credits that are used to add trinkets,
abilities and features within the game.

An Apple Support Communities page called " iTunes store account hacked " has 24 pages
of similar complaints, with many of the most recent being
about "Kingdom Conquest." Many customers remarked that
they had received little or no help from Apple.

Sega urged customers to contact Apple, the creator of iTunes.
Apple did not return phone calls and emails from
SecurityNewsDaily.

"They got me too. $80 in gift cards and I'm down to .53 cents.
Still waiting to hear back from apple," a June 2 post reads.

Sega responded to the complaints in an online forum.

"We are currently investigating this claim as well as some
others, but since we have no access to any customers' iTunes
account information or transaction histories we highly recommend
contacting Apple directly," a spokesman for the Japanese game
publisher said.

"Allow me to state very clearly that Sega and 'Kingdom Conquest'
are not acting maliciously in any way," the Sega representative
added. "It is in no way possible for this game to charge an
iTunes account without someone installing the app, logging into
that iTunes account with valid credentials and then choosing to
make a purchase."